Middletown Man Sentenced In Fatal Hit-and-run

MANCHESTER — The family of a Plainfield man killed by a hit-and-run motorist crowded into a small, stark courtroom Monday to face the Middletown man who was behind the steering wheel that day.

Paul Taylor Jr., the victim's oldest son, stood squarely at the microphone and stared at the defendant, Christopher Saccente. Taylor said the family did not want Saccente, 25, in jail for life -- it only wanted him to have stopped at the scene, a Cromwell construction site, after hitting their father.

``I hope that the memory of this lives with you for the rest of your life like it does for us,'' Taylor said at Saccente's sentencing.

Several minutes later, Saccente turned toward the nearly two dozen Taylor family members to apologize and assure the family that he would go to his grave remorseful over the accident.

``I just wish I could trade places with that gentleman. I'm sorry. I'm very sorry,'' Saccente said, softly, before being sentenced to six months in prison and five years' probation.

Authorities said Saccente was traveling north on Route 99 when his black 1988 Suzuki Samurai struck Taylor, a 58-year-old flagman working with K.E. Cianci Construction Co. of Cheshire. Saccente fled the scene, telling police that he did not realize that he had hit someone until he heard the police sirens while at his parents' home nearby.

The accident occurred on a rainy, windy day at a site where the town was installing a sewer line. The day before the accident, police had warned the construction crew that it was a dangerous site and that someone was going to get killed there, said Saccente's attorney, John R. Donovan of Cromwell.

Saccente's problems started when he fled the scene. Prosecutors said he tried to conceal the accident, parking his vehicle in his garage. He then took off the damaged hood and spray-painted it.

Police said Saccente eventually turned himself in the day after the accident, but only after his supervisor at Middletown Toyota alerted authorities about Saccente's involvement in the incident.

Assistant State's Attorney Michael Dannehy said that Saccente's actions compounded the accident. Dannehy said Saccente deprived investigators of being able to review all aspects of the accident and determining whether there may have been aggravating factors.

She said she realized that Saccente had had a sad life since childhood, including bouts with substance abuse and clinical depression. She noted that Saccente's mother no longer speaks to him, and his wife, who gave birth to his daughter a short time after the accident, divorced him.

Although it was an accident, Cofield said she felt that Saccente needed to serve some time in prison, given that he left the scene and initially tried to cover up his role.

She also suspended Saccente's driver's license for five years and required him to undergo substance abuse treatment, though there was no evidence of any in the accident. Saccente had gone through treatment for substance abuse. The judge ordered Saccente to perform 300 hours of community service, speaking to youth groups about the Nov. 21 car accident.

Cofield asked the victim's family if it had a preference for the community service. Paul Taylor Jr. suggested that Saccente speak to the Boy Scouts of America or Little League baseball teams about the accident because of his father's involvement with the two groups for years. Taylor also wanted Saccente to perform the community service in the family's hometown of Plainfield.

In August, Saccente pleaded guilty to evading responsibility and tampering with evidence. He entered his pleas under the Alford doctrine, meaning he does not admit all the allegations but acknowledged the state had enough evidence to convict him.

During and after the sentencing, Taylor's family members struggled with their sorror, anger and forgiveness.

Robin Suprenant, one of Taylor's daughters, spoke for the family.

``My dad would have searched his soul for forgiveness if it had happened to one of us. I just hope some day I can be a mirror image of him.''